An easy afternoon in Patras
Olympiacos beat Apollon 87-61 in Patras starting this season’s League with a win.
The ’red & white’ lined up missing quite a few players. The captain, Kostas Papanikolou, suffers from a tendonitis in his right knee and did not travel with the team, while Moustapha Fall and Isaiah Canaan did not also make the final cut (the American guard felt ill a few hours before the game). Nevertheless, they had no problem dominating the floor…
Up until 5’ the game was balanced (13-13), however, when Kostas Sloukas entered the game, in combination with the good defence of the ‘red & white’ as well as their excellent percentages from the perimeter, turned the situation upside down. With a partial 13-2, Olympiacos originally got a +11 lead (15-26 at 9’), and then saw to send the difference skyrocketing to 22p. (23-45 at 17’). The hosts tried to return to the game with threes, however, Bartzokas’ players maintained complete control (33-50 at 20’).
In the 3rd quarter, the ‘red & white’ had an excellent score in all aspects of the game, defence, facilitation and execution and with Vezenkov, Walkup and McKissic as the main protagonists, they sent the difference to 34p. (39-73 at 29’). The 4th quarter was not of the same calibre though… The ‘red & whites’ tempo slowed down, open shots were not going in and Apollon closed in to 59-78 (at 37’). Despite finding it difficult to score though, Olympiacos never actually was in danger and got the win with characteristic ease.
* Joel Bolomboy suffered a sprain in his left foot and he will be undergoing medical assessment upon the team’s arrival in Piraeus.
The quarters: 18-26, 33-50, 42-75, 61-87.
